Artist Statement

The content of my work is connected to the various stages of my life. I create a visual response to them through my paintings, describing specific events of my childhood and adolescence. Interpreting these events through painting allows me to dig into my memories, which in turn triggers others, creating a conversation between the past and the present. The process of reflecting on my past is mirrored in the ways I approach my paintings. The blank surface on which I begin a painting is the field where I tie my memories together. The exploration I undertake in making a piece is parallel to the adolescent complexities I faced growing up. I use the figure as a way to exploit my past in this visual playing field. I use the body language of composition to emphasize the relationships between other memories. The clothing of the figures gives me the chance to create a nostalgic reference point where I can incorporate icons of the past that people of any age could relate to. For me, visiting the past isn't always clear, so I paint some areas flat and ambiguously. This ambiguity appears regularly in the grounds of the work, but can also appear in the figures themselves. Events of great impact are highlighted by my attention to details of the represented objects. Abstraction and realism, as complementary languages, unite the past and the present, and help me tell my stories.

Our quoted dimensions are for the size of paper containing the images, not the printed image itself. We do not alter the aspect ratio, nor do we crop or resize the artists’ originals. All of our prints have a minimum border of .5 inches to allow for framing.

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Robert Garcia

Born
and
raised
in
a
lower-class
Hispanic
community
that
prided
itself
with
its
Chicano
attitude,
Robert
Garcia's
first
inspirations
were
the
drawings
on
the
letters
his
uncles
sent
home
from
prison
and
the
gang
graffiti
painted
on
the
walls
of
his
neighborhood.
Allowing
the
reality
of
his
culture
to
breathe
through
him,
he
relied
heavily
on
his
surroundings
to
teach
him
about
life.
This
pushed
him
to
develop
a
passionate
urge
to
respond
to
the
harsh
conditions
of
his
living
environment
by
projecting
his
voice
through
the
creativity
of
art.